Non-invasive differentiated wireless transmission detection

Abstract

A non-intrusive method of determining whether a mobile device is transmitting through a Wi-Fi router or a cellular network is described. The method includes monitoring messages relating to a wireless network. A subset of the messages including Create Session Request, and IMSI/MDN are received and later a subset of the messages including Delete Session Request, and the IMSI/MDN are received. The combination of the sets of received messages is used to determine whether the mobile device is transmitting through the Wi-Fi router or the cellular network, specifically based on the Create Session Request and the Delete Session Request.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 monitoring, by one or more devices, messages relating to communications of mobile devices through a cellular network; 
 receiving, by the one or more devices and based on monitoring the messages, a first subset of the messages that includes a create session request and an identifier of a particular mobile device of the mobile devices,
 the particular mobile device requesting creation of a communication session via the cellular network; 
 
 obtaining, by the one or more devices and based on the create session request, a first time stamp associated with the creation of the communication session; 
 receiving, by the one or more devices and based on monitoring the messages, a second subset of the messages that includes a delete session request and the identifier of the particular mobile device,
 the second subset of the messages being received upon termination of the communication session via the cellular network; 
 
 obtaining, by the one or more devices and based on the delete session request, a second time stamp associated with the termination of the communication session,
 the particular mobile device being disconnected from an Internet service provided by the cellular network after the termination of the communication session, and 
 a core network of the cellular network being connected to an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) service after the termination of the communication session; 
 
 calculating, by the one or more devices, a time difference between the first time stamp and the second time stamp,
 the time difference providing an indication of a time period in which the particular mobile device is transmitting data via a wireless router rather than via the cellular network; and 
 
 providing, by the one or more devices, the indication of the time period in which the particular mobile device is transmitting data via the wireless router rather than via the cellular network. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving one create session request based on an access point name (APN) for the IMS service; and 
 receiving another create session request based on another APN for the Internet service,
 the delete session request being based on the other APN. 
 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 disconnecting the particular mobile device from the Internet service based on the other APN; and 
 maintaining a connection with the IMS service for the particular mobile device. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining an off-load factor based on the first subset of the messages and the second subset of the messages. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 utilizing the off-load factor to develop a plan to reduce adverse loading on the cellular network. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless router is configured to access the Internet service without first accessing the core network. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the cellular network includes a radio access network for communicating with the core network that includes an IMS service access point name (APN) and an Internet service APN. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the particular mobile device includes:
 a first application for activating the communication session via the cellular network, and 
 a second application for communicating with the Internet service via the wireless router. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 monitoring links in the cellular network. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the links include at least one of:
 an S1U interface, 
 an S5 interface, or 
 an S11 interface. 
 
     
     
       11. A method comprising:
 receiving, by a device and from a mobile device, a first request for establishing a communication session via a cellular network associated with the device; 
 authorizing, by the device and based on the first request, the mobile device for the communication session via the cellular network; 
 obtaining, by the device, a first time stamp based on authorizing the mobile device; 
 receiving, by the device and from the mobile device, a second request for establishing a wireless session via a wireless network; 
 obtaining, by the device and based on the second request, a second time stamp associated with establishing the wireless session; 
 determining, by the device, that the mobile device has disconnected from an Internet service provided by the cellular network, based on the second time stamp;
 a core network of the cellular network being connected to an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) service after the mobile device has disconnected from the Internet service provided by the cellular network; 
 
 determining, by the device, a time difference between the first time stamp and the second time stamp,
 the time difference providing an indication of a time period in which the mobile device is transmitting data via the wireless network rather than via the cellular network; and 
 
 providing, by the device, the indication of the time period in which the mobile device is transmitting data via the wireless network rather than via the cellular network. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the second request includes a delete session request. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first request includes a create session request. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 requesting a first access point name (APN) associated with the IMS service and a second APN associated with the Internet service. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the IMS service is provided by an IMS network that includes the core network. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 11 , where the mobile device includes:
 a first application for activating the communication session with the cellular network, and 
 a second application for communicating with the Internet service via the wireless network. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 determining an off-load factor based on a total number of mobile devices transmitting data via the wireless network rather than via the cellular network. 
 
     
     
       18. A system, comprising:
 a memory to store processor-executable instructions; and 
 one or more processors, to execute the processor-executable instructions in the memory, to:
 receive messages associated with communications of a mobile device via a cellular network,
 the messages including:
 a first subset of the messages that includes a create session request and an identifier of the mobile device, 
  the create session request requesting creation of a communication session via the cellular network, and 
 a second subset of the messages that includes a delete session request and the identifier of the mobile device, 
  the second subset of the messages being received upon a termination of the communication session via the cellular network; 
 
 
 determine a first time stamp corresponding to the create session request, the first time stamp being associated with the creation of the communication session; 
 determine a second time stamp corresponding to the delete session request,
 the second time stamp being associated with the termination of the communication session, 
 the mobile device being disconnected from an Internet service provided by the cellular network after the termination of the communication session, and 
 a core network of the cellular network being connected to an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) service after the termination of the communication session; 
 
 calculate a time difference between the first time stamp and the second time stamp, 
 the time difference providing an indication of a time period in which the mobile device is transmitting data via a wireless router rather than via the cellular network; and 
 provide the indication of the time period in which the mobile device is transmitting data via the wireless router rather than via the cellular network. 
 
 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the cellular network includes a gateway to the Internet service, and 
 the create session request includes a request to access the Internet service through the gateway. 
 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 19 , wherein the delete session request includes a request to cancel access to the Internet service through the gateway.